


Rooms in Time and Space

by GrumpyJenn



Series: Contact [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-08
Updated: 2012-03-08
Packaged: 2017-11-01 15:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyJenn/pseuds/GrumpyJenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The TARDIS is ill, and Eleven & River have to gather old friends to help</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sexy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thesesongsaretrue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesesongsaretrue/gifts), [SnowyAshes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyAshes/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Sticks and Stones](https://archiveofourown.org/works/357275) by [thesesongsaretrue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesesongsaretrue/pseuds/thesesongsaretrue). 



> Inspired by Sticks and Stones, by beverlymaldoran, and used with her permission

“I’m starving,” complained River Song in a good-natured sort of way. She and the Doctor were lying on the bed in her room - the room he had made for her himself, with the pale green walls and the (softer and more comfortable) duplicate of her bed in Stormcage. She loved it here, in her very own space in the TARDIS, and sometimes she invited him in just because she could, because it was hers and hers alone. He and Sexy Thing had even rigged it up so he _couldn’t_ get in unless invited - and that was wonderful. Come to think of it, she hadn’t actually invited him this time, at least not in so many words, or in any words at all really, given that they had been connected at the lips at the time. She supposed that counted as an invitation.

At least they had made it to a bedroom this time, narrow bed or not.

In any case, she was hungry. She thought about making him go get them some food, but who knew what he’d bring back, and she wasn’t in the mood for fish fingers with custard or jammy dodgers. So she got up herself while he whinged playfully about how she really should _try_ the fish fingers, they were lovely, and come on, River, just this once? She shook her head, smiling at him as she threw on a dressing gown, and opened the door. She stopped, and stared for a long moment, before clearing her throat. “Doctor?” she said hesitantly, and he looked up at the tone in her voice. _Hesitant_ was not commonly a River Song sort of thing. And she had called him _Doctor_ rather than _my love_ or _Sweetie_ or by his true name, the one he had almost forgotten before he told it to her, which meant that she thought they weren’t alone _and_ she was unnerved by whatever it was outside the room. “Doctor, would you come tell me if I’ve gone mad? Or is this not a TARDIS corridor?”

“Is what not a TARDIS corridor, River? She moves that stuff around all the time,” the Doctor said, but he got out of bed willingly enough. He put on a dressing gown and went to River at the door, loping along in his awkward way. He looked over River’s head. “Hmm...” he mused, “You’re right. That doesn’t look like her usual run of corridor at all. Sexy?” he said to the air. There was no response. That was... unusual, and paired with what they had seen outside the room, there was a definite _wrongness_ here. “Old Girl, are you all right?” Still no response. “Voice Interface, come on. Emergency!”

There was no response.

River shut the door. “Sweetie, _think_. I know you’re worried about her, but did it occur to you that you don’t have access in here? Let me try. Voice Interface, come on. Emergency!”

“Voice Interface en-en-en-enabled,” said the Voice Interface hologram. It looked like a pretty - if somewhat sickly - woman in ragged Victorian dress.

“Voice Interface, please allow access to the Doctor until revoked by me,” River said simply.

“Ack-ack-ack-acknowledged,” agreed the hologram, flickering slightly as she spoke. She turned to look at the Doctor. “Goodbye, my beautiful id-id-idiot.”

“Hello, Idris,” he replied, his voice thick. “Can you tell us how to help you?”

“Will you in-in-introduce me to your wife?” asked the hologram.

“You already know each other...” he sounded perplexed, “But... River, this is, well... your other mum. The TARDIS. Idris, Sexy Old Girl, this is my other wife, your daughter River Song, Melody Pond. Why do you all have so many _names_?” He sounded distressed, and River wished she knew how to help him.

“Names _are_ funny,” agreed Idris, “I like, have liked, will like n-n-names. I can help you help me k-keep my names, if I can. My systems have been con-contaminated by a vi-vi-vi-vi-vi--” the hologram hit her forehead with her hand, “virus. An eleventh-dimensional time virus that has dis-dis-dis-dis-dis-dis-dis--” the forehead slap didn’t work this time, and the hologram flickered out temporarily, then steadied. “--disconnected my rooms matrix.” The voice and the visual both faded as it said, “Help... me,” but then the hologram equalized as it - no, _she_ , River decided - she looked at them without talking. River looked at her husband and was a little surprised to see that he had tears in his eyes. _She must have been someone very special to him_ , she thought, _I wonder why the TARDIS chose that particular form for the V.I._

“Can you tell us how?” asked River. Somehow she wasn’t surprised by the TARDIS showing up to ask for help. Who else would she ask?

“No,” replied Idris, “I mean... the other w-w-w-word, the other one, the joyful... ah. _Yes._ ” She looked at River directly. “But it will m-m-make him angry. Or s-s-s-s-sad. And h-h-h-happy. There are p-p-pieces of a t-Timedrive scattered in on over time and s-s-sp-space.” The stutter was worsening as the hologram talked, and River noticed that the Doctor looked more upset with each word. “F-f-f-f-f-f-f-find them. You w-will know th-them when you s-see them. You w-will know w-w-when you have th-th-th-th-th-them all.” She faded entirely for a moment, then strengthened. “P-p-p-p-p-pl-pl- _please_...”

The holographic image froze but for a flicker and they stared at it for an endless moment. “No...” the Doctor whispered, horrified. “No... Idris, Sexy... _please_.” He turned blindly to River, seeking comfort, and she wrapped her arms around his shaking shoulders. “River, I can’t hear her... I can’t hear her in the back of my mind... she... she’s _gone_.”

“Sweetie, she’s _not_ ,” River said, fiercely, taking his upper arms in her hands and giving him a little shake. “Look at me, my love, _look at me_.” She waited until he did, and his eyes were sad, desperately sad, and she gave him another shake and insisted, “Sweetie, if the TARDIS were dead, d’you think this room - much less that hologram - would still even _be_ here? She is _not_ dead. She’s... unconscious, my love, she’s ill, and you have to snap out of it so we can find what she needs to make her well! Now come on, let’s get ready.” She kissed him hard on the lips and let go of him, heading toward the wardrobe.

As she rummaged around, finding jeans and a cargo jacket, she watched from the corner of her eye as the Doctor reached out toward the frozen image of his other wife. And then she sighed in mingled sympathy and relief as he turned away and grabbed for the clothes she had taken off him earlier that day. He would be all right now, as long as they worked toward a solution. She got dressed and filled the cargo jacket’s pockets with assorted useful things - her ‘kit’ he liked to call it - and then strapped on her disintegrator pistol and tossed him his sonic screwdriver. He caught it deftly and smiled at her, holding out her vortex manipulator. “Just in case?” she inquired, tucking it away into one of her myriad pockets. He nodded and took her hand.

They each took a deep breath and she opened the door. Hand in hand, they stepped out onto a street in the city of London, Earth. It was dark and they clung to each other’s hands, getting their bearings as their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

And then the world exploded around them.


	2. Jack

“ _Duck!_ ” shouted the Doctor, shielding River’s body with his own. She yanked him back by his tweed jacket, into the doorway they had just come through.

But it wasn’t the doorway to her room at all. It was what was left of a brick building - an intact alcove in a wall and not much else. They crouched there in the uncertain safety of the overhanging arch of bricks, the Doctor protectively sheltering his wife. The explosions seemed endless, but eventually they were able to discern that the detonations were moving away, and that there was more time between each one. They shifted silently, understanding that this was a situation that called for quiet, and held each other tightly as the distant sounds of concussive force slowed and finally stopped. The Doctor was struggling between his habitual desire to help and his instinct to protect River when she whispered, “My love, you can let me up now. I want to see if we can help.” He didn’t let her go, but he nodded and relaxed, moving his hand down her arm to grip hers. Together they crept out of the ruined archway and surveyed the scene.

It was dark, but there were fires burning where the bombs had hit, enough to see by. River shuddered. Of all the times she’d visited on Earth - and she’d visited a lot of them - the London Blitz was probably her least favourite. And the first thing she saw was a dead body. She tugged on the Doctor’s hand and indicated it with her chin. He nodded and they started over to it, but then he stopped and did a double take.

And amazingly, he started to laugh.

It was a quiet, wry chuckle, but it was a laugh, and River was confused and ever so slightly angry at his callousness; usually she was the more unfeeling one of the two of them and this was... uncharacteristic. “Come on,” he said in a surprisingly normal tone of voice, as he led her to the body. As they got closer, River noticed that the dead man had been handsome, very handsome in fact, and that although he did appear to be dead, there was barely a scratch on him. She shook her head; he must have caught one hell of a concussion from that last explosion, to kill him without burns or bleeding. They got to the body and she knelt by it, feeling for a pulse, because why else would the Doctor be laughing at a dead man unless he knew something she didn’t? There was no pulse, and she looked up at her husband, still chortling away, with annoyance.

And then the corpse gasped and sat up.

River shrieked and scrambled to her feet, colliding with the Doctor, who laughed louder as he pulled her into a one-armed hug. “It’s all right, River,” he said, his voice deep with affection and amusement, then turned his attention back to the man sitting in the street and extended a hand to help him up. “Hello, Captain.”

The man looked up at them with an expression of perplexity on his handsome face. River watched him warily as metaphorical light dawned; his face was so open that she practically saw the light bulb ping on over his head as he bounced to his feet and wrapped his arms around them both. “Doctor?” he asked, with incredulity and joy in his voice, and it was so infectious that River started to chuckle too. “But... but you’re so young! If you keep regenerating like this soon you’ll be too young even for me... and that _would_ be a tragedy. And you,” he turned those amazing twinkly blue eyes on River, with a mischievous glint in them, “You’re _gorgeous_. Where in the universe did he pick up a Companion like _you_?”

The Doctor cleared his throat. “Really, Jack,” he said with affectionate exasperation, “Could you leave off until you’ve been properly introduced?” It began to dawn on River who this good-looking rogue must be, and she almost laughed aloud.

“My apologies, Doctor,” said Jack, with a florid bow. Somehow - even with the World War Two clothes - this did not make him look foolish. He took her hand and bent over it, brushing his lips over her knuckles. “Captain Jack Harkness, at your service, Miss...?”

“Mrs.,” she corrected, throwing him that smirk that always made even her husband wary around her. “Mrs. - or Doctor - River Song.” She withdrew her hand smoothly from his. “Isn’t that right, Doctor?”

“You surprise me, Doctor,” said Jack, “Bringing a married woman on the TARDIS. What must her husband think?”

“Oh,” purred River in that voice, the voice she always used when she teased her husband, “he _loves_ it. Of course, there are... ups and downs to every relationship, ups when we can be together, downs when I have to kill him. Especially the second time. Isn’t that right, Sweetie?” And she reached up to cup her hand around the back of the Doctor’s neck, drawing him down and kissing him breathless. She let him go, and they grinned at each other until finally Jack cleared his throat. They turned to look at his raised eyebrows and slightly wistful expression... and then his face cleared and he began to laugh.

“I assume congratulations are in order, then?” he inquired, slinging an arm around each of them as though he’d known them both forever. “This is a story I’ve got to hear. But first, tell me why you’re here, now, again. I think I haven’t quite met you yet, Doctor, and I know I’d remember if I’d met your lovely wife before.”

“The TARDIS is ill, Jack,” said the Doctor, shrugging Jack’s arm off his shoulders, not unkindly, so he could reach for River’s hand, “and her rooms are all disconnected from one another because of it. We’re trying to find the pieces of her Timedrive to patch her up. She said we’d know them when we see them, and we’d know when we were done finding them, and sent us here, and then...” River squeezed his hand, “And then she just... just disappeared. We came out in that alcove over there,” he pointed with his free hand, “and then when the bombs went off the door we came through was... gone. I don’t know whether it was the explosion or whether she... she couldn’t hold herself together anymore.” He looked miserable, and Jack’s heart went out to him. He knew how much the Doctor loved his Old Girl. “She must have sent us here for a reason, Jack, here to you. She said that the pieces were scattered over time and space, and that finding them would... upset me.”

“Or make you happy. That says to me, my love,” River said, “that Jack has a piece of the Timedrive, or knows where to get it. And that others who have the other pieces won’t be as willing to help. You do plan to help us, don’t you, Jack?”

Jack looked at them, and wondered if they were aware of how they leaned supportively toward each other. He sighed, missing that sort of companionship. Even sweet, simple Alonso was gone... “Of course I will, if I can,” he said simply, and kissed each of them firmly on the mouth. “I don’t know what I can do here, now, but we’ll just have to figure it out. Let’s go; I have a place.”

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Jack looked at them across the scarred wooden table. “Okay, let me see if I’ve got this right,” he said, his usual exuberance a little muted. “River, you are the child of the Doctor’s most recent companions, but also the child of the TARDIS because you were conceived while your parents were aboard her. And you live backwards. Sort of.” River nodded and smiled at him. “And she - the TARDIS - is sick, she’s got some kind of 11th-dimensional virus. Any idea where she got that?” River shook her head, but the Doctor nodded thoughtfully.

“It might’ve been House,” he said, a little hesitantly, and River stroked his hand at the tone in his voice. “He was a... a living planetoid outside our universe, in a sort of bubble universe, and he’d been trapping TARDISes and their pilots and anyone else who wandered by for... well, for spare parts.” He shuddered at the memory, and River made a shocked and sad noise in her throat. “Anyway, I think she must’ve caught something in that bubble space - there was a lot of shifting of her rooms involved in our escape. I... that’s where Idris comes in; the House moved the TARDIS’ consciousness into a human body and... well, even a healthy Time Lord doesn’t last very long with a TARDIS in his head, much less a patchwork human.” Jack nodded. He remembered. The Doctor sighed. “River missed that one,” he said wryly, “but her parents were there. All three of them... So now she’s ill, and she says she needs the ‘pieces of the Timedrive’ to make her well. We don’t know what they are, but she sent us here to you, in this time and place...”

Jack nodded. “I think she... must have called me here,” he said. “I mean, I’m already here, younger, meeting that Doctor and his friend Rose. So why not just meet that me? Why would I come here - now - again? I was on my way to that bar, you know, the one where I met...” he trailed off, avoiding the Doctor’s gaze, “... anyway, and I just... showed up here.”

River and the Doctor shared a look. The Doctor nodded once, and they looked at Jack and said in unison, “Spoilers.” The Doctor continued, “Talking about this to that you, Jack, the you who isn’t immortal yet, who hasn’t even met the tenth me, it would be very difficult to get his help without telling him things he shouldn’t know. And even if we could convince that you, he was hanging about with that me... and crossing my own time stream is almost always bad. Except that one time... or was it two?”

“All right, then, gentlemen,” interrupted River, “Think. What happened to the two of you in this time and place that could possibly be used as a component in a Timedrive to repair an ailing TARDIS? Who did you meet besides each other?” She watched Jack’s face, and saw the realisation appear just as the Doctor squeezed her hand.

“Nanogenes,” said the Doctor, and Jack nodded. “Has to be.”

“I’ll get them,” offered Jack. “I know where everything is and since that me already knows I was a Time Agent, if I do run into him - and I don’t think I did - he’ll listen to me more than you. And you don’t risk running into yourself.” He paused and took a deep breath. “But I have a favor to ask you. Both of you. Can I come with you? Please?” An expression of pain and loneliness crossed his face momentarily, but when they didn’t move, it set into resignation. “I’m... at loose ends, both here and in the 21st century, and I... need something to do.” Fleetingly, his face grew bitter, and he shoved his chair back away from the table and stood up. “I’ll let you kids think about that while I go get you some nanogenes.” And he strode out of the room, letting the door slam behind him.

The Doctor and River looked at each other. “From what you’ve told me, and what I’ve read of him...” said River a little cautiously, “that’s... atypical.” He nodded. “But we’re going to let him come along, aren’t we, my love?”

“He’s always been... brash,” he said, and scratched his jaw nervously, “but not usually that volatile, like a bomb about to explode. But he can come with us if it’s okay with the Old Girl. Once she wakes up, I mean,” He scratched the other cheek. “She doesn’t always like him - I don’t always like him - because he’s a... his immortality, he’s just wrong. She can feel that. Neither of us can help it. But if she wants him with her, it’s fine with me...” he trailed off, looking even more worried, and she took his hand as it was about to scratch nervously again. She used it to draw him closer to her and kissed him.

“You’re a good man, Doctor,” she said simply, sensing - was it guilt? - for Jack’s wrongness, and kissed him harder this time. This kiss was long and lingering, and they broke apart, flushed, when the door slammed open again. Jack stood there, holding a standard-issue Royal Navy Thermos bottle, grinning.

“Delivery for the Doctor and Mrs Doctor River Song. That’s really cumbersome, you know, that “Mrs Doctor” thing. So, when do we leave? And how?” River took the vortex manipulator out of her pocket and waved it at him, then fastened it around her wrist. She and the Doctor each held out a hand to Jack and the three of them clasped hands over the table.

“Ready?” River asked. Both men nodded. “Then let’s go. I’m aiming for my room; that seems most likely to work.” She smiled wistfully at her husband as she said this, and he smiled encouragingly back at her.

She pushed some buttons at her wrist and the three of them disappeared in a flash of lightning and dust...

...and appeared in the Cloister Room of the TARDIS, the Bell tolling loudly over their heads.


	3. Rose

“Can you stop that bell, Doctor?” shouted Jack. He and River had their hands over their ears and the Doctor was stroking the Bell, making what looked like little distressed sounds, trying to calm it in the same way he soothed the main console sometimes. The whole room was shaking in addition to the loud sounds of the Cloister Bell, and River sat down on the floor.

The tolling stopped abruptly, and through the ringing in her ears, River could hear her husband’s voice faintly, speaking as though the TARDIS were a child frightened by a nightmare. “--it’s all right, Old Girl, it’s okay, we’re trying to make you well. That’s it, good girl, you’re alright, there, see? Good... good girl, Sexy, we’re here, we’ll take care of you...” _Then again_ , reflected River, _maybe in a way, she_ is _a frightened child_. She stumbled through the quaking room to where the Doctor was still patting at the Bell’s console, and put both her hands gently on it, hoping the TARDIS would be soothed by her presence as well.

_(ripping loss terror)_

The response wasn’t in words, precisely, but it was clear to River and the Doctor that the TARDIS was terrified by the disappearance of most of her rooms. River shuddered. _It must feel like having a limb removed, without anaesthetic_ , she thought with revulsion, _poor Sexy Thing_. She tried to project calm, but she wasn’t trained in this, and could only hope that it would help rather than hinder the Doctor’s efforts to do the same. But he smiled at her across the console as they worked together to soothe the frightened TARDIS, and she knew it would be all right.

_(fear? help? love)_

It was working. The tremors of the Cloister Room slowly subsided and the room shuddered into stillness. River and the Doctor both sighed as they broke the connection and Jack looked at them with concern. “You kids alright?” he asked, somewhat caustically in his relief, “Because that was... intense.”

“She’s afraid,” River said softly. “She’s never been in pieces before, physically or temporally, and it’s terrifying for her.” She reached for the Doctor’s hand. “Think about it, Jack, she’s what? over a thousand years old, even older maybe, and she’s... she’s _alone_ \- she doesn’t even have all the pieces of her _self_ \- for the first time ever.” She held his gaze until he looked away. River sighed again.

“I know how she feels,” Jack muttered under his breath, and River smiled at him, relieved that he understood. She’d _thought_ he did, but she hadn’t been sure; she didn’t know him that well, and she trusted him only to a point. “Anyway,” Jack said, trying to break the somber mood, “where to now?” He looked around, which he hadn’t really been able to do with the Bell’s clamour assaulting his ears, and noticed a door. A wooden door, which wasn’t all that common on the TARDIS, if he remembered correctly. He pointed to it. “In there?”

“No,” said the Doctor, glancing at River. Her face was set in a neutral expression. “No, that won’t do at all. That room is... special.” He looked relieved when he caught the flash of a grateful smile from River; she would have let Jack into her room if it had been the only option, but she’d really prefer to keep it as the... the sanctuary it was. “We’ll use the vortex manipulator again, once we figure out where to go, unless Sexy can make us another door. Can you, dear?” The Bell shivered with a faint echo of its usual sound, and River and the Doctor felt a wash of agreement, still tinged with fear, but also with hope. A door - a normal TARDIS-style door - appeared in the wall opposite the wooden door. “Lovely door, Old Girl,” encouraged the Doctor affectionately, and River felt that wash of positive emotion again as the three of them headed in that direction. The Doctor sonicked the door and it opened... onto a windy beach. The Doctor and his wife shared a look and he took her hand in an almost desperate grip as they stepped through the door together.

It slammed shut behind them, leaving Jack on the other side. The Doctor turned to face River and slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders. He kissed her. “You know where - _when_ \- we are.” It was not quite a question, but River nodded. “I don’t see the TARDIS,” he continued, in as conversational a tone as he could manage, “So the other me has probably left already. That means those people,” he indicated the small group down the beach, “are probably the human me, and Jackie, and... _her_. Rose.” He sighed and laid his forehead gently on hers and she felt an echo of _always and completely, my River_ as the wind blew their hair about their faces. He kissed her again, fiercely this time, and then his hands slid back down her arms and he took her hand to walk with her down the beach toward the small knot of people.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

“No!” shouted Jack as the door slammed shut in front of him and then disappeared. He slumped against the wall where it had been, his face in his hands. “No...” he almost whispered, “Please... don’t leave me alone again, _please_ , I know you don’t like me, but please... don’t do this.”

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The Doctor and his wife, hand in hand, approached the people on the beach. River didn’t know what he had planned - and his plans often went awry even with the best of intentions - but she decided she’d play along, no matter how outrageous he got. She might regret it later... but she’d do it. This would be hard for him, and she loved him. “Er... Hello,” said the Doctor, raising his free hand in greeting. The three people looked up from their quiet and intense conversational huddle, and River saw the Doctor’s tenth incarnation in person for the first time. Well, sort of... as she understood it, this was a human clone of the Doctor. But he _looked_ the same as the picture she had of him, and she tried to smile reassuringly at them all. “This is going to be awkward,” said her Doctor, sheepishly, clutching her hand even tighter, “but I’m you. I mean, I’m the other you, another of the one who just left, and...” his words started tripping over each other as they did when he was upset, “And the TARDIS - Idris, I call her Idris or Sexy Thing or Old Girl, but you call her Old Girl too, right? - and she’s ill and we need your help...” he trailed off, still looking at the human version of his former self, and - it seemed to River - very carefully _not_ looking at Rose.

“What,” said the human Doctor, and it wasn’t really a question. “What - explain that again.”

“Let me,” River interrupted, squeezing her Doctor’s hand and addressing all of them, though focusing on the two women. “This is the Doctor - I won’t tell you which one - and I’m his... current Companion. My name is River Song.” She was making eye contact with the women, not noticing the look of shock on the human Doctor’s face as he looked at her and heard her name. “The TARDIS is ill and her rooms matrix is disconnected. She needs the parts of a Timedrive to heal herself and she said we’d know the parts when we see them. She sent us here, to you, which means that one of you has a part of the drive or knows how to get it. Can you help us?”

“If we can,” said Rose simply. “We love her too.” She took her mother’s and her human Doctor’s hands in her own, standing between them. She watched the newer Doctor and her own human Doctor eyeing each other warily and wondered what it was they were trying to communicate, but the woman with the riotously curly hair didn’t seem to notice. “What do you need?”

“We don’t _know_ ,” said the Doctor, his voice rising with frustration and worry, “she only said we’d know it when we saw it.” He ran his fingers through his floppy hair and then over his face, and Rose saw _that_ look - the old and tired look she’d seen so often on her Doctors’ faces. It was strange seeing it on the youthful face of the man in front of her, and it made her heart ache with sympathy for him. _They’re so different_ , she thought, _but in some ways they’re so alike, the Doctors_. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and looked directly at her for the first time since they’d appeared up the beach. “I’m sorry, Rose,” he said sadly, “I’m just worried about her. We need something that can help rebuild her rooms matrix. The other item we acquired... it was some nanogenes from the crashed medical transport in the Blitz, you remember, when we met Jack for the first time.” He smiled at her and scratched his cheek nervously, and she understood the mix of muted joy and pain he’d experienced when seeing Jack - and her - again. _He doesn’t seem so lonely now, though,_ she thought, _so that’s good. He’s dangerous when he’s lonely._

“Wait just one minute!” It was Jackie at her shrillest, and she stepped forward and poked the Doctor in the chest with one manicured finger. “You’re not taking my Rose anywhere, not again. She’s just now settling down with this other you, the human one, the John Smith one, and I won’t have you taking her away from us again!” She stood there glaring up at him, hands on her hips now, and the Doctors looked at each other over her head and began to laugh, breaking the tension. “What?”

The human Doctor stepped forward and lifted Jackie by her elbows, turning her to face him. “Even if he wanted to take her, Jackie - which he doesn’t - I wouldn’t let him.” He gave the Doctor a significant look over her head, and became more serious. “I’m sure um... _Miss_ Song here is a perfectly good Companion, and all they need is an item of some sort, an object to help the Old Girl’s rooms matrix realign itself. Isn’t that right?” The Doctor nodded, and put one arm around River. The gesture was protective and River wondered what had prompted it. The human Doctor _\- John Smith_ , River reminded herself - said, “Right, then, let’s see what we have that could possibly help a TARDIS rebuild herself...” and he began to pat at his pockets. “Aha!” and he pulled a small _something_ from his inside pocket. “TARDIS Coral,” he said triumphantly, “the Doctor gave it to me to grow my own but...” he snapped the coral in half and tossed a piece to the Doctor, who caught it deftly in his free hand, “but Rose and I can wait a little longer. Can’t we, Rose?”

Rose didn’t answer him in words. She just launched herself at him and kissed him, throwing her arms around his neck. _Even her mum - Jackie? - seems happy with this solution,_ River thought, _and if_ my _Doctor is feeling... wistful about Rose, he’s hiding it well_. She sighed, and drew the Doctor closer to her but resisted the urge to stake a claim by planting a similar kiss on him. He glanced at her and smiled. “Right,” he said, “Thanks. We’ll er... leave you to it.” Rose waved vaguely in their direction without removing her mouth from John Smith’s, and the Doctor started to shuffle off, holding River by the hand, just this side of dragging her in his haste to get away. River smothered a giggle as she set the vortex manipulator to the TARDIS’ Cloister Room and pressed the button to engage it.

They appeared near the Bell, as they’d hoped, and were confronted by the sight of Captain Jack Harkness slumped dejectedly against a door, his hands over his face. River stopped giggling immediately and they went to Jack’s side, kneeling next to him. _This is not good_ , the Doctor thought, _very very not good_. He hadn’t seen Jack this upset since... well, since he’d tracked him down in that spacer bar after the incident with the 456. River had her scanner out, but he put his hand over hers, shaking his head at her slightly. “It’s not physical,” he murmured, “He doesn’t get physically hurt.” He gritted his teeth - there were bits of him that still couldn’t stand Jack because he was just _wrong_ , a _fact_ , and he knew the TARDIS felt the same - and gently touched the other man’s shoulder. “Jack?”

Jack let out a single hoarse sob and then he just shook, his whole body trembling, and River and the Doctor both knelt there and held him like a child until he stopped. In sympathetic silence, the three got to their feet. “So,” Jack said, not looking at either of them, “let’s go see where the door leads now.” His voice was bright and hard, and he opened the door with a slightly vicious wrenching motion, and went through without looking.


	4. Donna

The Doctor and River silently followed Jack through the door. It was the medical bay, and River thought wryly that perhaps they should hook Jack up to a machine and see whether they could get to the root of whatever was causing these violent mood swings. Since he obviously was unwilling to share. _Men!_ she thought with exasperation, _gender transcends lifespan or even species, it seems_. She sighed, and the Doctor squeezed her hand. “Right,” he said in that brisk tone he used when trying to change the mood, “What’ve we got to work with? Nanogenes, thank you, Captain Jack, you’re the best, let’s have those then.” He accepted the Thermos bottle from Jack and placed it on the exam table, flashing Jack a smile and hoping it helped with... whatever was troubling Jack. It took a lot to upset Jack, and it was... disturbing how volatile his temper was just now. “And a piece of TARDIS Coral from me - the Tenth me - his er... meta-crisis duplicate... but let’s just call him John Smith, all right?” He laid the irregular chunk of coral next to the Thermos bottle and smiled around the exam table. “Now what?”

“I’m sorry,” Jack muttered, abruptly, “I... I don’t like being alone. Sorry.” He made eye contact this time, trying automatically to flirt his way out of trouble, and River thought the effect was rather ghastly. But he was trying, and she brought their hands, hers and the Doctor’s, to cover Jack’s hand, patting it in a friendly and sympathetic manner.

“Apology accepted,” she said, “so let’s see about trying to find out what else the Old Girl needs to make her well. Last time she needed us to ask her, so we can try that again... but do we need to be in the Cloister Room or the Console Room?” She looked inquiringly at the Doctor, who shrugged.

“I don’t know, but let’s try here,” he said, nodding at their joined hands on Jack’s in the center of the exam table.

“Wait, _me_?” Jack exclaimed, “She doesn’t even _like_ me, and in case you haven’t noticed, she’s not at her best right now anyway! I don’t want a sick and angry TARDIS on my case!” He trid to pull his hand away but the Doctor gripped it tightly.

“Jack.” His voice was low and tense. “She _didn’t_ like you, it’s true, but you’ve saved her and me more than once since then, and I’m sure she’s forgiven you for being... what you are. Just _try_ with us, please? I’ll drive.” He waited until Jack’s hand relaxed, and nodded to River. “Ready?”

She nodded, and they closed their eyes.

_(grief, love, trust)_

_(love, sorrow, pain)_

_(need, hope, friendship)_

They broke apart, gasping. “Wow,” said Jack, “I guess she’s willing to talk to me after all. That was _intense_ , and in a good way this time.” He looked at the others. “Not in a good way? Tell me it’s in a good way!”

River shook her head, slowly. “I’m not sure. It _was_ intense... but all I got was a sense of loss and pain. Shadows...” The Doctor winced, but she didn’t see it as she continued, “just... shadows and fear and...” she trailed off, looking troubled.

Jack patted her hand. “How about you, Doc?”

The Doctor blinked, and put on a deliberately cheerful face. Jack recognized it; he’d felt it on his own face often enough. “Oh, mostly just a feeling of trust that we can do this, she trusts us. Did you get anything specific, Jack, or was it just intensity? She's good at intensity you know, very intense, our Old Girl, it may have to do with that eleventh dimension, after all the first six are space and time, and then the next four...” he noticed them staring and subsided. “What?”

“Um, yeah,” said Jack, “she wants me to stay here. But at least she told me this time so I won’t be taken by surprise.” He smiled at them  both. “Come on, may as well get going.” He moved around the exam table and kissed each of them briefly but firmly, and River got the impression that he was saving up the physical contact, storing it somehow, so he wouldn’t break down again after they left. She smiled at him and took the Doctor’s hand.

“I don’t see a new door,” she said, “So do we need to use the vortex manipulator, or find a door in one of the rooms we have available to us? We don’t know where to go, unless one of you got something more than I did.” As she spoke, a door appeared in the wall behind her, and Jack laughed and pointed.

“Does that answer your question?” And his warm laughter followed them out of the room.

...and into the lobby of a brightly-lit resort hotel.

“I don’t recognize this place,” said River as the elevator doors closed behind them. “Any idea where we are? Or when?”

The Doctor’s grip on her hand loosened a bit as he said, “Yeah, we can relax, we don’t have to worry about crossing my time stream; I’m trapped in a bus two hours from here, being taken over by an entity that wanted to... that doesn’t sound very restful, does it? And it _wasn’t_ ; it was terrifying, but at least we won’t cross the... what?” She was looking at him with that fond half-smirk on her face as he babbled, and when he stopped she reached up and kissed him, a sweet kiss full of promise for later. She sighed into his mouth and he decided they’d better get the rest of the components for repairing the Old Girl right quickly, because he wanted... “--right! let’s go get whatever the next bit is...” The Doctor looked around, and noticed a uniformed hotel employee - a busboy maybe - watching them. He swung River around and they started toward the boy, who rushed up to them as soon as he saw them heading his direction.

“Er, hallo? I’ve a parcel for you, I think. Are you the Doctor and Professor Song?” _Professor?_ thought River, _Hmm... now there’s a pleasant spoiler!_ The Doctor nodded, and the boy handed him a small package, touched his cap, and scurried off. River and the Doctor shared a long look as he tucked the package into his pocket.

“Is it just me, Sweetie, or was that far too easy?” He nodded and she continued, “You know how Idris said we’d know the pieces when we saw them? I felt that way in the Blitz, and on the beach, but I don’t feel that here; it’s like we’ve left something und--”

“Oi! I know you!” The voice was unfamiliar to River, but she could see by his face that the Doctor recognized it as they turned to look in the direction it came from. There was a red-haired woman reclining on a beach chair, waving vigorously at them, and she beckoned them over as she sat up straight and took off her dark glasses. As they approached, the Doctor’s grip on her hand tightened slightly, and the woman said, “I knew it was you! You’re the Doctor’s friend, Professor Song, the one he didn’t remember!” River felt a chill at the words, and clutched tightly at the hand she held in hers, but she didn’t let anything show on her face. Fixing the TARDIS was their first priority, and she _must not_ break down. “I thought you’d died there on the library planet,” the woman continued, oblivious, “but I guess he went back to save you after all, eh?” She grinned in a friendly fashion, not noticing the frozen half-smile on River’s face or the stiff posture of the young man holding her hand.

“I’m... better now, thank you...” River heard herself say, faintly, “but we’d better keep this meeting a secret from the Doctor. He...” she trailed off as the ginger woman tapped her own nose with her finger.

“I gotcha,” she whispered conspiratorially, “he hasn’t done it yet, so he can’t know he’s done it. Will do it. _I_ understand.” She let her voice go back to its normal and somewhat shrill volume. “Nice seeing you again, Professor! And good catch on the... er... _young_ _man_.” She eyed the Doctor up and down, winked at River, and closed her eyes behind the dark glasses, reclining on her chair again. River stared blankly at her for a moment, and then realised the Doctor was tugging gently on the hand he held in his.

He put his arm around her and guided her back to the elevator, murmuring in her ear, “Oh, River, I’m _so sorry_ , it’ll be all right, River, _please_ , say something, River.” He’d seen that expression - that _lack_ of expression - on her face once before, in Stormcage when she had kissed him and he had run away. It was terrifying, that blank half-smile.

She could hardly hear him for the roaring sound in her head, _one two punch and River is down,_ said her mind, _dead and forgotten, forgotten, gone_... The elevator doors opened and he dragged her inside, punched the buttons to close the doors and freeze it where it was. _Tick tock, tick tock,_ said River’s mind, _he’ll forget you and then you’ll die, in a library, a student of ancient civilisations dies in a library, after she is forgotten, how fitting_... The Doctor was patting at her face ineffectually , whispering her name over and over, begging her to stay with him, trying to bring her out of the shocked state she was in, but she found the world turning grey and then black and she just couldn’t _care_...

 _Oh, my River_ , thought the Doctor despairingly, _I’m so sorry_. He caught her as she slumped and carefully lowered the two of them to the floor of the elevator. She had been amazing, _magnificent_ , she had had the ultimate shock, but she’d held herself together until they were in a safe place and he was _so proud of her_. He feverishly pressed buttons on the vortex manipulator round her wrist to get them back to where they came from, the TARDIS’ medical bay, and he didn’t realise he was crying until the indicator on the wrist band blurred and he swiped angrily at his eyes with one hand. _Oh, River..._

Jack jumped when the swirl of dust and lightning indicated their return. That had been quick. And then he stared for a second at the scene; the Doctor on the floor of the medical bay, with tears in his eyes and his unconscious wife in his lap, cradling her gently and looking up at Jack with such _pain_ along with the tears in his eyes. “Jack,” he said in a choked whisper, “Help me. Please.”

“My God, Doctor, what happened?” Jack asked, horrified, as he instinctively dropped down on the floor next to them and gathered them both up in his arms. He’d been with the Doctor in a lot of very serious situations, but he’d rarely seen this kind of... of breakdown. “OK,” he murmured, holding the Doctor holding River, “tell me.”

And he did. The Doctor, his voice sometimes nearly inaudible in his grief and shock, told Jack about the Library, the Vashta Nerada, River sacrificing herself to save Donna and the rest of the people saved in the Library’s hard drive “--and _me_ , she went in my place, I would have done it but I didn’t _know_ her and she didn’t show it much but now I know how much that _hurt_ her, me forgetting her...” He shuddered, fighting to regain control of his emotions, and Jack’s arms tightened around them both, his turn to be the comforter now. “So we were on the planet Midnight just now, and we saw Donna and she didn’t _know_ , Jack, but she told River, she _told_ her what happened in the Library, in the patented offhand Donna way, and oh _Jack_ , River was _amazing_ , she played along even though it was killing her--”

_(sorrow love trust)_

The Doctor’s voice grew less frantic. “I know you couldn’t help it, Sexy, it’s not your fault,” he said sadly. “I just... I wish I could take the pain away from her.” He heard Jack sigh and glanced up at him, then back at River’s face. “Yeah, you get it, don’t you, Jack? We’re too old and too tired and too... broken by the things we’ve seen and had to do. I... you know I needed Rose, after the Time War, just because she was... sweet, and I needed proof that such sweetness could exist in this universe. That’s why I introduced you to Alonso, I thought you could use that kind of friend after what you had to do with the 456.” He looked up again, and saw the tears in Jack’s blue eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”

Jack shook his head. “Don’t be,” he said softly. “You can’t be everywhere, everywhen. No, not even _you_. Right now, you need to be there for _her_ ,” and he nodded at River, cradled in the Doctor's arms. “She loves you, and she needs you, as much as you need her. It’s obvious in every look, every gesture. From both of you. And I won’t lie, I’m envious. But I’ve got a long life ahead of me, and it’ll happen for me someday. I know it will.” His expression lightened, and he grinned cheekily at the Doctor. “Hey, even your TARDIS likes me now. If my modest charms can win her over, there’s hope for the rest of the universe.” He got up and patted the Doctor on the shoulder. “Like I said, just be there for her.” And the Doctor looked back down at his wife, nestled in his lap, and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled weakly at him, still looking drawn and pale at her foreknowledge.

“Hello, Sweetie.”

 


	5. River

“Hello, Sweetie,” she said, in a voice hoarse with grief and fear, but she smiled at her Doctor as he bent his head down to kiss her. The kiss was gentle and sweet, and even Jack felt he had to look away. The Doctor laid his forehead lightly on hers - _always and completely, my amazing River Song_ \- and she relaxed and gave him a less tremulous smile this time. “Idris?” she asked, “Is she okay?”

He smiled at her. She wasn’t as tough and unfeeling about others as she claimed to be... at least not about those few people she truly loved. And his TARDIS was one of those people. And that - that made him so _proud_ of her again, that after all that brainwashing as a child, being trained to believe she was a psychopath, having to kill him (twice!), after all of _that_ , she was still capable of loving and of putting others before herself. Sometimes she was better at it than he was.

The next kiss was far less sweetly gentle, and Jack laughed, “Get a room, you two.”

They broke the kiss and the Doctor helped River to her feet. “Right!” he said, “A room, we need a few more, don’t we... thanks for being patient, Old Girl...” and they felt the wash of amusement and timelessness, and River laughed softly at the thought of an 11th-dimensional person needing patience. The Doctor started patting at his clothes, looking for the package they’d picked up, and found it in his left trouser pocket, pulled it out and laid it on the exam table next to the others. He picked at the packaging until it lay open and they saw what was inside.

It was a sapphire as big as River’s fist, and Jack whistled in appreciation and picked it up, discarding the wrapping. He held it up to examine it more closely and remarked, “It’s a good thing I’m not the man I was when we met, Doctor, because this is a very tempting piece of the pretty side of the universe. And it brings out the color in my eyes.” He fluttered his lashes at them both, holding the gem up for comparison. This time River’s laugh was stronger and less tentative, and Jack considered that a good day’s work. He carefully laid the jewel back on the table with the other two objects - the coral and the vacuum bottle of nanogenes - and looked at them. “Well,” he said a bit doubtfully, “Time to figure out the next piece?”

The Doctor pointed. “New door,” he said, just as it appeared, “let’s see where it goes.” He held out a hand to each of them, and they walked together hand-in-hand to the new door.

It opened into the Console Room, and they stood for just a moment before the Doctor dropped the hands he was holding and practically leapt over the railing in his haste to get to the main console. He started patting it and flipping levers and pushing buttons, making encouraging little crooning noises and saying things like _that’s a good girl_. River and Jack shared a look of amused affection and went to join him.

River stood, looking fondly at her husband as he bustled around the console, occasionally throwing her a smile or tapping her nose on his way past. Jack was watching him too, and watching her watching him, and feeling that wistful tug of envy that wasn’t quite so bitter now, and he glanced up at the console’s main screen. “Um, River?” he said, a little hesitantly; he hated to break into their reunion with the TARDIS, but this was important. “River... look at this.” His voice was so strange that it even got through to the Doctor, and they both came to stand next to him, looking up at the console with him. It showed nothing but text, in TARDIS blue.

_River Song_

_My child_

_Love_

River realised she was holding her breath, and let it out, very slowly. “She means I’m the last piece of the puzzle, doesn’t she? Because I’m her child. The other three pieces were all physical components of some kind - nanogenes for healing and the coral for growing the new rooms and the sapphire for... for what? Focusing, like a laser? But from me, she needs love. _My_ love, because I’m her child and part of her is here, inside me.” She put a hand to her chest and smiled at the two men. “I’ll need your help, of course, Doctor. She knows you love her already. And Jack, you don’t have to help--”

“--I want to help.” he interrupted, “These last few hours have been... I want to help.” He held her gaze for a long moment, and then nodded. “All right, what do we need to do?” He looked from one to the other. “Doctor, do you know?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Nope. But we’re about to find out.” He held out a hand to each of them, so that each of them held the others’ hands in a small circle. “Now, we’re going to have to close our eyes, I think, to concentrate. And get ready, neither of you have a lot of experience in the 11th dimension. It can be... weird, even by my standards.” He closed his eyes and the others hesitated, then did the same. And the waves of information and emotion began to roll over them from the TARDIS and from each of them.

_(loss pain fear soothing affection healing growth)_

_no... so sorry River, didn’t mean it my River, the green for your own, alone but together, loving..._

_(love! lovelovelovelovelove!! corridors stretching growing)_

_anger... fear... grief... shadows, loss, forgottenforgottenforgotten...shadows... remembered? remembered! affection, gratitude, love, so much love..._

_(love! rooms budding connecting)_

_despair... pain... friendship... touch... please, touching, affection_

_always and completely loving_

_by so many, and so much, and by no one more than me..._

And there was a burst of golden-orange sparkly light, like the regeneration light, but _huge_ , so enormous that even the Doctor could not encompass it.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

River awoke to find herself propped up on pillows in her own bed, in her own room that her Doctor and their TARDIS had made for her, the pale green walls embracing her with a kind of love of their own. She sighed contentedly, although she was so _tired_... she hadn’t been this tired since reviving the Doctor... wait! They’d revived the TARDIS; she’d been disconnected and they’d saved her. But where was the Doctor? And Jack - Jack had helped. Where were they? Surely they wouldn’t leave her alone. There was a knock at the door, and she looked up. “Um... it’s open?” The door swung open and the Doctor stood there, looking at it doubtfully. She smiled at him. “Hello, Sweetie. You can come in.”

He looked relieved as he stepped through the door carrying a tray. “You’re awake! I wasn’t sure, she only let me in here long enough to put you to bed and then I went to get your tea and she wouldn’t let me back in.” He shook his head fondly and beamed at her as he put the tray down on the little table by her reading chair. “And River, you did it! She's well again, and budding new rooms at a ferocious rate, there’s a new squash court, and the billiard room has this glorious stained glass ceiling, and the library--” He stopped for an instant but when River’s expression didn’t change he continued his cheerful babble. “--the library still has a pool right in the middle of it, she decided we like it that way...” He trailed off as she smiled wider and pointed to the doorway behind him.

“Jack’s fine too, thank you very much,” said Jack himself, his old cocky grin in place, “I mean, I did die for a little while - human brains aren’t built for that - but death doesn’t really last long for me these days.” He laughed at the expression on River’s face. “Come on out of there, kids, so I can give you a hug.”

“Give us a minute, would you, Jack?” asked the Doctor, “and shut the door, please; we’ll be out in a bit.” He turned to River as Jack did exactly that, cocking a suggestive eyebrow at them as he closed the door. “Are you all right, River? I mean, you’re not... you don’t have... it’s because of me you can’t regener--”

“Oh, shut up,” she said, and kissed him. “I’m fine. You know she wouldn’t hurt me.”

“I know she wouldn’t,” he said simply, wondering how much she remembered of the people she had met that day... and of what they had said. “She loves you.” River nodded.

“She does. That’s what I remember most... that feeling that she loves me, and the orangey gold light. You, of course, and Jack and Rose... I have an impression of shadows and fear, but well, I’m not fully Time Lady, am I? My brain probably can’t interpret all of that 11th dimensional stuff, just like Jack’s. I kind of wish I remembered more, though... it must have been wonderful.”

The Doctor let out a relieved breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. _She doesn’t remember_ , he thought, _she’s safe for now_. “It was amazing, River. Not as amazing as you of course,” he said as he smiled at her. “But I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“Except spoilers, of course,” she said, smiling at him.

“Of course,” he heard himself say, “Never spoilers.”


End file.
